Monday, September 19, 2011

Reader George writes in: "I was buying some books at St. Marks and overheard the guys behind the counter talking about what a good sales weekend it was. They had sold out of some paperbacks and had to order more. They said it was the best weekend they've had since Christmas!"

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who heeded the call and took the time this weekend to buy books at the St. Mark's Bookshop. Of course, one weekend is not enough. To keep this great bookshop alive, we need to keep going back.

If the form is just a vehicle for the combination of words then I don't really see how it makes a difference if they are an assemblage of 1's and 0's or of ink smudges on a piece of paper. I suppose that if you're saying that a book, in the gestalt sense, is more than the combination of words, then maybe I would have to agree with that, but what it seems that you're lamenting, more than the book itself, is the community hub that the book store itself represents.

Tim, I would rather have the worn paperback sitting on my shelf with the folded ears of pages containing passages that I want to return to; the immediacy and sensual experience of grasping, opening the book to see the page; to smell a bound book, to hear the rustle of a page turned and see the words "Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun... there are millions of suns left." Do you have a favorite book and do you have that book still from the time you first read it and does it evoke memories of that time and place or person you were then? I'm sorry, but for me, the screen of an e-book can never accomplish that same familiarity or that connection to centuries of writers and readers who discovered literature the same way. If it's a community, it's a community that has a far longer life and shared history that the battery on a kindle or ipad.

Things you can't do with a Kindle: browse a shelf-ful of them in a book store; scotch-tape the binding; highlight interesting passages; dog-ear the pages (thanks Claribel); take a nap with it open over your face; admire the way it looks on a well-used bookcase. I love old paperbacks, especially if they're classic novels reprinted in the 50s or 60s with really bad cover art (which also can't be found on a Kindle). Glad to see St. Mark's did so well - hope it continues to thrive. Gotta get there! I need a new copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

You can't gift book with the Kindle, you can't share books with the Kindle, you can't take notes with the Kindle, your kindle is useless without electricity, you can't drop your kindle on the ground sharply - its a gimmick.

It was pretty crowded in there on Sunday, and I'm glad they got a needed sales boost.Now, the key is to commit to go there and buy at least one book or magazine there every month.I don't care how strapped you are, we can all afford one book a month, every month.This place can be saved by ALL of us. In a Vanishing New York, let us all commit to making sure at least this one place doesn't disappear.

Excellent! If we want a vibrant neighborhood, then we have to support our local businesses, not just with words, but with our wallets, thin as they may be.

Let's expand the effort to buy other items locally. Music, for example, at the indie record stores scattered throughout the neighborhood. If you're a musician, buy your instruments and supplies locally (East Village Music, or even Guitar Center - a brick and mortar shop that lets you try out the musical toys is infinitely better than an online shop).

St Mark's is great for books, but I would wish for more hardcovers there, and a larger philosophy section!

jm -- we should. spread it around via fb, twitter, blogs, whatnot. do the flashmob esp. on a weekend when all those brunchers, parents of the college kids and others* are here

we should call it occupy EV

[*i notice that on sundays, there seem to be a lot more parents (and they tend to have condescending mannerisms or look down towards the locals) in the ev/les visiting their not college kids -- those who just graduated from college or trust fund kids. people who moved in the ev back then didn't have their parents help them move to the neighborhood, or hardly visited them. just an observation. #shutupesquared]

nonetheless, weekend would be best, since they're here and are in awe of anything that has a line or crowd.

if we did this, we'd have to be sure not to block actual customer flow into the store. so the line of actor/activists would have to move pretty well--people could flow in, take a lap around the store, then get back in line outside.

sounds like a plan. i'll be there either way, and will be actually buying books. maybe the sidewalk can be blocked (much like the sidewalk are blocked in front of cafe orlin, mogador, etc. -- that's when the zombies start paying attention to a place) or perhaps we can have a kim kardashian or justin bieber lookalike, if not the real ones, pretending to be browsing, to create more buzz. or fashionistas in front and inside browsing the fashion magazines. we'll call it reading day/night out

Went on Saturday and purchased an Edmund White book and two short story books by Oates and Alice Munro! I sadly had never been in that bookstore, but I will tell anyone it is very cozy and the presentation and selection is fantastic. Everyone should go buy a book there!

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